Mammography (breast imaging using x-rays) lawsuits are very common in the United States, and most cases involve three element, namely (1) Standard of care fails to meet stipulated processes and procedures (2) Training of staff below established standards (3) Focus was not on the provision of quality service to the patients For those who operate mammography facilities, they should practice the following to minimize their chances of getting sued.
(a) Make sure the policies in used meet the established standard of care.
Do not aim for the bare minimum standard.
All staff in the facility must be well versed in the policies crafted, and follow it strictly.
Take these policies seriously because the plaintiff's attorney is going to scrutinize them like a hawk.
(b) Process management is another critical area to focus on.
If the delivery system malfunctions because of poor communication, then patients may sue for things like delayed diagnosis of cancer, which affects their treatment.
Make very sure that all processes are well documented and all records updated promptly.
(c) Do not just depend on verbal communication.
This is because even if all your staff are very good communicators, there is always that chance that patients have a listening problem and could not remember what was said to them after a certain period of time.
To avoid this problem from cropping up, take the extra step of writing or printing what was communicated to the patient in writing, and keep a copy in your report.
(d) Worship record keeping because in most court cases the jury has a tendency to believe the patient rather than the mammography facility.
So, when a patient comes in for mammography and start relating her "story" of how she is feeling, when the problem with her breast was first noticed etc, make sure your technologist record all of these down in the patient's history sheet and request the patient to affix her signature on that document.
All these steps are important because in mammography lawsuits, the patient's medical records will be used as evidence.
If the records were lost or haphazardly done, then it could be game over for the mammography facility.